Arabian Children

hmm this is an old land and an old town sahab  and jordan it lies in arab lands where the september water shortage worries  farmers like ahmad yasin salaman ahmad has worked hard all his life his son  yasin is 10 years old tysir is only nine ahmad's family also includes his wife lila  and daughter aisha aisha and mother spread out the family's bedding to air  on the roof during the coming day yasin sees a dust cloud and is trying to make out  what is coming down the road leading past his home it is something unusual for it's traveling  too fast to be a caravan or horseback rider and it's much too early for the bus yacine makes  out that it's a truck from a bigger village nearby but there is work to do fields to plow food to  cook sheep to look after a high wall surrounds not only the house but shelters for the animals and  the tools in the small courtyard as well [Music] everyone in the family has a job to do [Music] tysia's job is to take the family's  two sheep to the village shepard aisha's first duty each morning is to sweep  the hard-packed earth floor of the courtyard yasin helps father they load the tools needed for  the day's farming on the back of the family camel and father lets yacine ride for a little way [Music] [Applause] on the way they passed the truck it is most  unusual to see a truck in the streets of sahab their job this morning is to get water  to the plants they are trying to grow although there's scarcely a  living thing to be seen here this is their new fruit orchard under the  pile of rocks that yasin takes carefully apart is a young fig tree the rock cover protects  the small tree from the sheep and goats it also helps to prevent the small  amount of water they can spare for it from evaporating too fast in the hot dry air  [Music] father has sent yasin to the family's well water is so precious here a well  is always carefully locked [Music] the wells of the village supply  enough water for people and animals but there is only a little left to  grow a few vegetables and fruits in very dry years there is no  water to spare for the trees but now it is time for yaseen to go to school  [Music] meanwhile tysir has reached the herd he turns the sheep over to a hired shepherd  food for the animals is scarce on the desert they must wander during the cool  hours to find the scant growth today there is a government  supported school in sahab father is one of the few men in sahab  who learned to read and write in arabic he learned from a religious leader [Music]  but now every boy has a chance to learn [Music] yasin takes office kefir schooling is very important too many of the  grown-ups in sahab cannot read or write at all the boys of sahab know the value of learning the  boys learn to read and write two languages english and their own language arabic of course they learn  other things too like arithmetic and geography and history but right now the class is learning  english it is hard to learn a strange language especially when it looks so different and reads  from left to right arabic is easier for yasin for him it reads in the correct direction while her brothers are in school aisha goes to the  well to get water for cooking and drinking [Music] she carries the earthen jar easily on her head there is no school for girls in the village  so aisha stays at home and helps mother mother is making bread as  she does each morning [Music] the water that aisha has brought is  needed to finish the dough for bread aisha churns camel milk in an animal skin bag mother takes the bread to a warm place  where it will rise before it is baked while aisha finished with her  churning pours out the butter and milk after the bread has risen mother takes  it to the oven in the family's courtyard inside mother brushes away the hot ashes on top  of the metal pan in which she bakes the bread the fire was lighted some time ago but has now  burned down mother shapes the bread into round loaves and puts it into the hot pan where it  will bake in a few minutes with the house tidy and food for the day prepared aisha and mother  find quiet work to do as the day gets warmer aisha embroiders as in most arab lands the  patterns are set by local customs and tradition out of wheat straw she has died mother makes a mat  maybe for decoration maybe for a table covering maybe to cover a dish there are no living things  in mother's d forbids it the tools mother and i should use for their work are simple but  both are skilled in the use of these tools meanwhile father is busy plowing each  year he sews a large field with wheat and if there are three or four rains during the  winter his crop will get enough water to grow the family's camel pulls the old-fashioned plow its broad feet help it in the sandy soil  transportation milk and hair for making cloth all come from the family camel the plowing  goes on hot hard heavy work the sun grows hotter and hotter and finally it's  too hot to work in the open anymore father finds a shady spot and rests  until the worst heat of the day is over the sheep are too hot to graze there is no  shelter on the hot plain beyond the village so they huddle together seeking the shade  of each other's bodies the village is very quiet everyone who can has gone inside to  escape the fierce heat of the noon day sun it is late afternoon and  school is over for the day yaseen and taisir are on their way through the  village streets the boys stop for a moment to say hello to their uncle who runs the cloth  shop one of the few such shops in the village between them the boys have one small coin  so they stop at a candy store [Music] the shopkeeper wonders if they're ever  going to make up their minds [Music] they finally do and the deal is made  the hard sugar candy is made in damascus the boys often stop at the mill on the  edge of town to see the miller and his helpers grinding wheat into flour a few  years ago the village women ground their grain between two stones to make flour but  now everyone takes the wheat to the mill the flour mill is powered by a big engine the boys always like to watch it work because  it's the only thing of its kind in the village but now two friends of yasin and tyseer call  them to play one of their favorite games it's a game very much like hopscotch you toss  a stone into a square and then pick it up hopping on one foot without touching the  lines with either your foot or the stone if you miss you lose your turn and  give the stone to the next boy in line this is a very popular game for arabian  boys who often spend hours playing it but well before dark the boys must leave  the game and do their evening chores tysir gets the family sheep and takes them home yasin goes to the field where father has been  plowing and helps gather up the tools to take them home for the night at the end of a hard  day the field seems to be a long way from town is glad to ride home [Music] as yasin and his father entered the village two  bedouins who live on the desert stop to say hello yasin sees the beautiful arab horses and admires  the bedouins for their fine animals and free life but when he stops to think  he is glad to have the camel yasin can see that the  horses are fast and beautiful but the tired old camel is much more important  to yasin and his family than any horse could be [Music] the setting sun catches them still not quite home father and the boys are all tired and hungry but before the family can enjoy its  evening meal they must clean up [Music] father must be especially careful for  once again it is time to pray to allah father is the religious leader of the  family like most other arabs he is a muslim each day he prays five times following a  pattern set in the quran the muslim holy book [Music] and then it is time for the evening meal aisha serves the meal as most  daughters and arab lands do mother makes the coffee which is so  important in the home life of arab a families is more than merely the satisfaction  of hunger it is a ritual of friendship tonight is a special treat father tells stories  stories about the ancient glories of arabia about alibaba and the 40 thieves about  sinbad the sailor or aladdin and his lamp or maybe about the kings and  princes of the olden times you